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Chapter 11. Rats In The Gutter
Bastian Klauswitz’s waltz was perfect.
Odette, who was prepared to step on his foot a few times, looked at Bastian with slightly surprised eyes. The man who calmly received that gaze was relaxed enough to give off a rather arrogant impression. It was embarrassing to read his thoughts, but Odette soon regained her composure.
“You waltz very well.”
Bastian let out a chuckle when she gave him a calm compliment.
“Lapen’s teachers will be able to make even a monkey do a gentleman’s dance.”
Lapen. Odette’s eyes widened as she repeated the unfamiliar word.
It was the best private school in the empire, where even children of prestigious families could not easily cross the threshold. It was an unlikely name to come out of the mouth of a man who was ostracized for being vulgar and lowly.
While hesitating because she couldn’t find an appropriate answer, the order of turns came. Odette, freed from the uncomfortable gaze thanks to this, focused on the present moment again.
It was the first and last ball she would ever attend.
She couldn’t leave with the regret of having danced a stupid dance on a beautiful night that would never come again.
Having made up her mind, Odette willingly entrusted herself to Bastian, who skillfully led her. It was the first waltz he had danced since his mother passed away, but fortunately his body did not seem to have forgotten the strict teachings of those days.
As Odette relaxed, the two of them gradually found a natural flow.
The emperor and empress were satisfied. The troubled princess ran away to the terrace in tears. And Sandrine de LaViere, or Countess Lenart, who was constantly glancing this way.
Bastian continued to appreciate the ripples caused by Odette in turn. It was the result as expected. In addition, an unexpected gift was added, so it was more than expected.
Franz couldn’t take his eyes off Odette even for a moment.
Even at the moment when he was dancing with his fiancĂ©e, whom he was so proud of, his eyes were relentlessly following Odette. Count Klein’s daughter, who saw it, was crying, but Franz didn’t even seem to notice.
Bastian looked at Odette with a satisfied smile on his face. Even at the moment of embarrassment and averting her gaze, Odette maintained a perfectly balanced posture. She was light as a feather and graceful in her gestures.
After this night, Odette’s reputation would be irrevocably ruined.
He was well aware of that, but Bastian didn’t care.
The woman who showed up here with gorgeous jewelry and dress wrapped around her would not have known it, but she pretended to be an independent woman who would not drink even a cup of tea for free, but in the end succumbed to snobbish greed.
Of course, she was not incapable of understanding what the business was all about. To some extent, it was fortunate that she was not a foolish woman who would fall into the abyss of her own poetic pride.
It was only matter of using each other for their own purpose, each of them should get what they wanted.
Passing through the clear eyes and smooth ivory cheeks, Bastian’s gaze reached the nape of her neck where the blue veins were clearly visible. The brilliance of a gorgeous diamond necklace that could not have belonged to this woman pierced his eyes.
Bastien’s gaze, which had been following the path of light that flowed along her straight collarbone, stopped deep above the neckline of her fan dress. Her breasts appeared to be particularly emphasized, as if the garment was ill-fitting for the woman’s body.
Her waist had been narrowed by the insertion of clothespins, but there did not seem to be enough time to make the repairs that would increase its width. It wasn’t so bad and it gave him more to look at.
“What a beautiful piece of jewelry and dress. It goes well with the young lady.”
Bastian’s lips curled slightly as he looked at Odette, who was giving him scolding eyes.
As he scanned her body lines once more, her cheeks turned faintly red. It made him curious what the color was under her dress.
“Thank you for the compliment, Captain.”
After responding firmly, Odette gently widen the gap between her and Bastian. But anyway, she was still in the arms of this man. As long as this dance continued, there was no escape.
“Are you returning it after tonight?”
At the same time as the large hands wrapped around her back were filled with strength, a question with obvious ridicule was heard.
Bastian approached, breaking the gap Odtte had worked so hard to forge, and lowered his head to meet Odette’s gaze. The shadows cast by the lights that shone on his slanted face accentuated the sharp lines of his nose and chin.
It was a vulgar language, but Odette decided not to point it out. After going through the prestigious history department and the Royal Military Academy, he was commissioned as an officer. He was a man who had received a more aristocratic education than any other aristocrat. It also meant that Bastian Klauswitz’s rudeness was by no means a product of ignorance.
“Yes. It’s because I paid a day’s wages and rented it.”
Odette looked at Bastian with a face that erased the shame that had been stuck like a thorn.
He was a man who had already met her at the depths of her life. If she couldn’t hide anything, she’d better be confident.
“Don’t worry too much. I have enough money left over to arrange something else.”
“Lady Odette must have been a much richer lady than I expected.”
“It’s all thanks to the captain’s consideration.”
“Consideration?”
“Yes. I am greatly benefiting from the savings on the tea the other day. I don’t think I will have to worry about jewelry and dresses until the play is over.”
Odette’s brightly smiling eyes shone coldly.
Understanding the prickly joke, Bastian laughed out loud. It must have been revenge for the disgrace she suffered that day, but it was not a bad provocation. Although it didn’t seem to be getting the desired result.
“It’s fortunate that the tea money is being spent on something far more valuable than the Duke’s gamble.”
“Since it’s the money I was supposed to pay the captain, I’m going to use it for the captain’s benefits.”
“Next time, I’ll have to treat you to a nice meal. So that the lady can save more money.”
“I’m sorry, but I am going to decline that offer.”
“Why?”
Bastian, who had been responding with natural jokes, narrowed his brows.
“I would not wish to incur a debt that is outside the scope of repayment.”
“I would never by any chance have to sell such a noble woman in exchange for a debt.”
“Considering the memory of the first day I met Captain, I don’t believe it very much.”
A small smile escaped from Bastian’s lips as he looked down at Odette, who was taking jabs at every turn. All the members of the blue blood family had stiff necks, but Lady Odette did not seem to be defeated by anyone. In fact, she had a very long, slender neck for a woman. As the night deepened, the lights grew more brilliantly.
They continued their waltz with each other in their light-tinted eyes.
Even when Odette averted her gaze from time to time, Bastian continued to stare deeply and calmly. It was towards the end of the dance that the commotion from the other side of the hall reached them.
Bastian turned his head towards the source of the murmur. A woman was staggering among the guests who had stopped dancing in astonishment.
It was the princess, the culprit of the marriage proposal.
***
“There they are!”
A shout close to a scream rang out, and at the same time, the princess dug in between the two. It happened in a flash.
“I know you do this to get out of your life as a rat in the gutter. You’re a beggar. You have no pride.”
Isabelle, standing with her back to Bastian, stubbornly began to pounce on Odette.
“This woman is seducing you for money! She’s nothing more than a cortisan!”
Isabelle threw the ornamental comb in her hand. It had been worn by Odette earlier.
Isabelle grabbed Odette’s hair with even more ferocity, as if that wasn’t enough to relieve her anger. Bastian’s mouth twitched into a twisted sneer as he watched. It was an abomination, but she deserves credit for the guts she took to attack Odette with all her might, even as her body staggered with drunkenness.
“Calm down, Your Highness.”
Bastian, who easily pushed Isabelle away, blocked Odette’s body.
“Don’t tell me you love that woman.”
Isabelle, unable to overcome her wrath, eventually burst into tears. In the meantime, Odette, who had caught her breath, slowly approached the place where the fragments of the broken jeweled comb were scattered.
“Look at that snob who is still blinded by jewels! Huh?”
Isabelle, who found Odette picking up the pieces, lashed out at her. Even in the midst of that, Odette calmly focused on what she had to do. She was so calm that gave people goosebumps.
“You’re drunk.”
Bastian stopped Isabelle with a more determined attitude.
“I love you.”
The princess, who was looking up at him blankly, whispered. It was a look that perfectly met the definition of a drunkard.
“I’d rather let the whole world know about this love! That would be better than losing you like this.”
Isabelle burst into tears again and hugged Bastian. The smell of alcohol was so strong that it made his head hurt.
Bastian, erasing his youthful sneer from his mouth, politely pushed away the princess who was clinging to him. But Isabelle was as desperate as a person on the edge of a cliff.
Neck and chin. The lower lip.
The princess, who had risen with all her strength, began to press her lips to Bastian’s at random.
When he turned his head to avoid the abomination, the imperial throne was in his line of vision. There was just a brief commotion there as well, as the empress collapsed from shock.
The imperial couple eventually left earlier than planned. The orchestra, which had been playing nonstop, stopped playing, and the banquet hall was enveloped in a cold silence.
This spring’s ball at the imperial palace seemed to have come to an inglorious end. It was an impressive entry into society in many ways.
Bastian’s staring, downcast eyes examined the chaos that the imperial princess had wrought. A quiet smile broke out from his face, which had been as insensitive as watching someone else’s misfortune, the moment he discovered the Klauswitz in contemplation.
They were at a loss, afraid that this might spark a fire. The circumstances of Franz, who was keeping an eye on his fiancĂ©e’s family like a missing bird, were not much different.
Bastian, who met with his angry father’s eyes, conveyed his deepest consolation and encouragement with a light nod. And again, he turned his head without much haste. The emperor’s daughter was still begging for his love with a messy face.
It was a tearful and elegant tragedy.